


Blackout - Between Reality and Fiction

by magiaburst



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Fan Characters, Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-08-03 19:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16332344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magiaburst/pseuds/magiaburst
Summary: Due to an unfortunate event, a young girl named Lucy finds herself in the plane of fiction. Now, she tries to find a way back home, yet things won't be so easy with sudden memories of the past and those two ballet princesses...PS: I know that the story's first three chapters are hard to read. Beginning with Chapter 4, the upcoming chapters will be easier to read. :)





	1. Reverie

**Author's Note:**

> A alternative universe, playing 2 years afer the main story. The prince has returned to his fairytale, along with his knight, Fakir.  
> Rue is still Princess Kraehe and what her intentions are, will get revealed later in the story.
> 
> This is my first take on a Princess Tutu story, so feedbacks would be very apprieciated! :)

"Once upon a time, there was a mother which gave birth to a child. This child was considered special, for it had been born between both realism and fiction. From a fear, that a dark, terrible legend could lay down it's influence on that very child, the mother escaped to the other side, the reality permanently and soon, the child had lost it's memories of it's past. The mother hoped, that it could never achieve these memories back, as it would be for the better. But what she didn't know, was that fate awaited the child..."

It was a dark night today, only a few street lamps and the moon could light up this town, however, it never helped much.  
And yet, I somehow enjoy this time. Peaceful, yet sinister. The moon, beautiful, yet mysterious. The shadows looming over. I couldn't help, but feel alive at such a  
time. It always reminded me of something, but I don't know what...

It's now been two years since my mother passed. In a mysterious way, though. She disappeared and then, not a long after, decleared dead. I don't know how and why,  
but I only know that the remainder of that year was my personal hell. Depression and stress pretty much controlled my mind. I managed to get out of this and I'm  
all good now, but I still wonder what happened. Nothing happens without a reason, after all. And I can't help but miss her at times. 

Because it got cold, I closed the window and sat down on my chair again. The last days, I was thinking about something certain.  
In a certain myth, or rather fairy tale, there was a town, far different from the ones you usually see. Usually, I do not have much interest into  
old myths or fairy tales, but this one seemed interesting - it's said, that the town prevents anyone from escaping it. There is simply no way out of it.  
It's also said, that the magical pressure within the town changes the memories of one within it, making them forget where they are actually from and makes them merely  
thinking that this town is where they are from. It's probably connected to that "dark legend", which is widely rumored.

All that seemed interesting and too unrealistic to be true, but I also refuse to deny it's existence.  
So I recently began to research about that town, trying to find possible reasons for those rumored things. And I didn't find out that much, so far.  
Yet I feel like there is something I overlooked...something important. 

I decided to call it a day and just go to bed. Tomorrow is another day where I still can think of everything.

This night however, I had a very mysterious dream.  
I woke up in a dark room of nothing. No light, no sign of life.  
That was, until purple fire began to errupt all over the ground, around me, like a ring.  
The silence has been broken, as a dark and unsettling voice ringed within my head.  
"Oh yes...the time has come... now, wake up, remember the truth..."  
This voice was completely unknown to me and yet, I feel like I heared it before.  
The last thing I saw before I woke up, was a rain of what looked like feathers.

I woke up, completely normal. It was a nightmare. At least I think it was.  
The day went like usual, nothing out of the ordinary happened. 

As I made my way home though, a few crows were flying around, cawing within the blue skies. Crows...often connected with darkness or death. Quite mysterious animals.  
It wasn't unusual that crows were flying around, but I didn't ever see them flying around the area of my house. It was cool to see that at least once.  
As I was back up in my room, I found the window open. Did I forget to close it when I was going outside? Most likely. As I looked at the ground, I saw something more  
mysterious. Apperantly, one of the crows took flight into my room through the window and dropped it's feather on the ground. 

I liked that coincidence. However, crows are clever animals. They would have known how to avoid a house, right?  
Whatever. I grabbed the feather and closed my window and went back to my table and chair.  
I grabbed a book from the library, a book which counted off some myths and anomalies, in hopes of finding more out about both that "dark legend" and the town.  
And indeed, I found out something. 

"Spread through fairy tales, one of the worst omens there can be is a huge swarm of ravens. Ravens predict bad happenings."

I just happened to come across a swarm of crows. Likely not the same, but still. However, they have a connection...

"The founding of a feather of either a raven or a crow, have multiple meanings within myths. Some describe them as bad luck, the other describe them as a gift."

Hmm...I found one within my room. I am not thinking that it could mean something, but...such coincidence...  
I stopped thinking when something caught my attention.

I stood up and walked to the feather. Did it just glow?...I shake my head. Probably just imagining things.  
I took the feather, but suddenly, my hand began to hurt. Ergh, what is this for a stinging pain all of the sudden? I layed down the feather again, but the pain  
didn't stop. Now, my chest begins to hurt too...it was like, a soft pain, but it became intenser and intenser, even so intense that I literally fell down on my knees.  
This feeling, it felt like my soul would be ripped out...  
Exactly now, I start remembering that dream and that voice.  
"Wake up, remember the truth..."  
This line, it repeated again and again while the pain....it was not sustainable. Tears ran down my face.  
Suddenly, the pain all stopped at once. The last thing I saw was a purple light around me, before I lost my senses and fell to the ground, my vision fading black.

I throught I just suffered from a heart attack and would have lost my life at this very point, but fortunately, I was just falling unconscious. 

...I wish I would have known what would happen after.


	2. Unexpected Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy finds herself in the mysterious town and she meets a girl named Ahiru. However, she soon realizes that nothing here is as it seems...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is much more Princess Tutu based. Also, this chapter took a unusual long time. I actually wanted to have it done before Halloween, but...well, sometimes things don't really work out. Anyways, have fun with Chapter 2. It may be a bit shorter than Chapter 1, but...I hope it ain't that much of a problem.

It's been some time since that happened. I finally opened my eyes. Over me, I could see the night sky and I seemed to lay on grass.  
So I slept until evening, or rather until the night. I would normally continue sleeping but I was outside for some reason. I stood up and looked around me.  
Around me, there were houses...am I in the city...? No. The houses looked more olden timed and overall, it seemed as a whole other atmosphere...so I'm definitively  
not in my place.

I slowly made my way into the town. Nothing, only lights and houses...and a huge tower. I eventually got to one of the town walls. I had no idea, where I actually was...  
until something caught my eye. There was a poster on the wall. "24th festival in Kinka-" I gasped. I was shocked.  
This...isn't real, right? This is just a dream...I hope. But I was awake, I felt it. My fear has been confirmed, I didn't just wake up in a random town.  
I woke up in the otherworld. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I was trying to find the gate, so I could get out of here. If the town of myths is actually a thing, then it's likely that those rumors around it, may be true, too.  
But strangely, I could not find it. I ran across the entire walls, trying to find any sort of exit, but nothing. If so, how did I land here? Or was my mind just playing tricks on me again? I mean, at this point, I was literally paranoid. I continued running, but nothing. I couldn't anymore, I was out of breath. I was back at the fountain.  
It was true, I was trapped here. And it's night, also, I literally knew no one here. I gave up and was about to just search a place to rest my head. There was nothing to do and I was exhausted. But suddenly, I could hear steps. And they got louder.  
"Excuse me, can I help you?"  
A voice toned behind me. A young, female voice. I turned around and saw someone. It was a young girl, a bit smaller than me, with short orange hair, which was completed with a big braid. She had water blue eyes and wore a gray dress, which looked more like a school uniform than an actual dress. "Yes, actually, you can help me...is there a way out of here?" I asked her, but she shook her head.  
"No, at least not now. The gates of the town are usually closed during the night." She answered. "Grr...damn it!" I said, being concerned.  
"Hey, what is wrong?" The girl asked.  
"...Well, you see." I stood up. "I know you probably will call me crazy, but...I just landed here. I don't know how, nor why. I just, woke up in the middle of nowhere.  
And now, I cannot go home..." I explained. "And I will probably sit here the whole night, doing nothing, waiting in the cold until the gates open again!" I added. I sunk to the ground and some tears began to roll down my face.  
"Hey, no need to cry..." The girl said, smiling. "If you would like, I can give you shelter for this night." She said.  
I was suprised by that statement. "Ain't it actually wrong to invite random strangers into your home?" I asked. She nodded.  
"Actually, yes, but...I have a good feeling that you are no one bad! And I can't let you be here, alone in the cold and dark night!" She said. Then, she reached out her hand to me. I smiled a bit and took her hand. I got up. "I thank you for the offer...I could really need a warm room and some sleep. Again, thanks!" I was endless happy. "It's all good. Anyways, what's your name?" She asked. "My name? Ah! It's...Lucy." I answered. She smiled. "My name is Ahiru, nice to meet you, Lucy!" She said.  
I couldn't help but smile too. Such kindness...I wish many would be like her.

The next day began. I woke up and looked around. This was not a dream, as I was in a more old-styled room. So I got dressed up and walked outside. Ahiru was nowhere to be seen, so she was probably in school. My goal - the gates, so I could leave and walk back home. But as I came closer to the gates, something very mysterious happened. The gates were there, however I couldn't leave. The gates didn't open...But on the other hand, this town is strange enough.  
I decided to stay calm, because I couldn't freak out in the middle of the town now. I would ask Ahiru later about things. So I had nothing to do until Ahiru returns.  
I think I'll take that oppurtunity to explore this town a bit. It's actually a beautiful town, much things are different than in the town I actually live in.  
It's very calm. It took a while, probably around some hours, until Ahiru was out of school. As she returned, I was sitting in that room again. As she entered the room, she was a bit suprised.

"Hey, you're still here? Didn't you want to leave this town...?" She wondered. I nodded. "Yes, but..." I answered, but stopped. I couldn't tell her that the gates just didn't want to open. This would sound too unrealistic... "I decided to stay a bit here. This town is pretty nice. You do not have any problems with that, right?" I continued. Ahiru shook her head. "Not really! It's not only my home, anyways. It's split into multiple dorm rooms." I smiled. "That's good, thank you! You know, you are a kind soul. And I know, I saw others around." I admired. She nodded. "Thanks for the compliment, Lucy." She replied, smiling. "The thing is just, I need to find something to do at the time being here." I sighed. "Hmm...how about you join the Gold Crown Academy in the time being here?" She suddenly suggested. "An academy?" I asked, curiously. "Yes! Our academy has many divisions, I'm pretty sure you would find something to enjoy, there!" She explained.  
"Hmm...I don't know..." I said, thinking. "Come on, it could be fun!" She insisted. "...Alright, I'll think about it." I agreed. She nodded.  
"In which division are you, actually?" I wondered. "In the ballet division! Why do you ask?" She also wondered. "I was just curious." I answered.  
In the ballet divison...ballet, when did I hear about that dance the last time? Probably when I was 10. Back then, my mother told me that it would be a great idea to try it, but I refused. I was not much into that dance as other children in my age. But it was still interesting and to be honest, sometimes I would like to try it myself. I definitively could, when joining the academy, but I'm unsure of things as of now. But who knows what the future holds?

It soon was evening and I actually wanted to talk with Ahiru a bit, but she was suddenly gone. Where could she have been? It was 8pm, I know, it was still bright outside, but where could she have gone now? Well, since I got nothing to do, I went outside, too. It was a beautiful sunset over the town, with the last people going back into their houses. For me, I walked through the town, as I suddenly felt watched. I looked around, but nobody was there. Only the ravens taking flight in the sunset sky, cawing. It still caused a strange feeling. As I continued walking, the sky began to change it's color, fading black slowly. It was about to turn night, but where could she be? Suddenly, I saw a light shortly reflecting on the wall. It was a pink light. I went there to investigate it; but no one was there. Then, my eyes took notice of something else. I saw something which looked like a chruch, but it wasn't one. And around that building, there were a lot of ravens. Not just your typical swarm, but hundreds of them. Probably the first time I saw so many at one place. It also gave me the feel of that I shouldn't be here. But my curiosity was bigger than my feeling, so I decided to walk to that building. As I came closer, the ravens seemed to take notice of me and cawed loud. It was so many at once and it began to annoy me, so I just ran into the building. The ravens slowly stopped cawing again. I heared nothing, it was all dark here. I took steps forward. I could barely see anything, but somehow, I still made my way forward.

As I approached, I could hear two voices - one was melodic and soft and the other was more cold and emotionless. And I heared something running away, too. I've waited a few minutes and after that, I decided that it may be a good time to check out what happened, so I slowly approached the place of event. But I reacted too early it seemed - one of them was still there and she has seen me. "What...?" I wondered, looking at the girl. She was very unusual dressed - she had orange hairs, just like Ahiru, but they were surrounded by white, fluffy additions. Her clothes resembled a ballerina, although with a special tutu and pink ballet shoes. She also wore something which looked like a crown on her head. She kinda looked shocked too. "Huh? U-uh, no need to fear, I didn't see anything. I just...went into here because of the giant amount of ravens outside..." I explained. "...anyways. May I know who you are, please?" I asked kindly. She nodded. "I'm Princess Tutu." She answered. Then, she turned around in a ballet-styled way and ran away. "W-wait! Hold on a min-" I said, but it was too late. She already left. Hmm. Princess Tutu. A ballerina princess...something like that is more common in fairy tales. I mean, I knew this town would play with my mind, but this was...truly interesting. I left the building too and the ravens were also gone, so everything seemed to be normal again. I sighed and slowly made my way back home. Ahiru should be at the dorms by now.

Yet, what I didn't knew, is that something...or somebody took notice of me...


	3. Close Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After seeing the mysterious Princess Tutu for the first time, Lucy quickly finds out that Tutu is a character in a story called "The Prince and the Raven". One thing she did not know however, is that the next encounter would be very soon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You do not know how long this took. But I finally finished Chapter 3, yay! This one is longer and give you some questions, which will be answered sooner, or later.
> 
> For now, enjoy!

"Once upon a time, there was a girl with great imagination. She always imagined the most supernatural things. One day, she imagined a town, where fairy tales would come true, where they could live at peace with reality. She always acted like she would be a part of all this, never thinking about the consequences. She knew, she would not forget the real world. However, as she tried to return to her world, she could not. At this point, she realized, there was no return - she was trapped within her own imagination."

As I thought and hoped, Ahiru was at the dorms. But she already seems to be in her dorm room. I don't want to annoy her in a calm evening, so I just headed to my own room, getting ready to sleep. I actually wondered why I already have a room, as I just got into this town, but at least it was just perfect. I will have to stay for a little longer, anyways. As I slept in, the dream returned from the last night in my town. It seemed to follow me, but for what reason? These words could not get out of my head. "Wake up, remember the truth"...what did that person in my dream mean? I guess I will find the answers to all these things soon. I woke up later and, as I thought, Ahiru was already in school. The timing was quite perfect, as I desired to return to the building I’ve came across yesterday. I barely could remember all that happened, yet I decided to check it again - there is always the mistake that I could have overseen something. So I did not think twice, I got dressed up and then I went outside, hoping to come across the same building again, with success. There were no ravens this time, so I just quietly entered the building and looked around, until I got into the main hall again, where I met Princess Tutu yesterday. But even here, no sign of something unnatural...just some black feathers on the ground. Those black feathers seem to be everywhere...just what does it all mean? I walked out of the building again, as there was nothing else to find here. As I went outside, I was instantly greeted by a strange feeling. I do not know why, but it was there.

Then I got an idea. Why didn't I think to look here earlier? The library! I remember that I spotted one when I explored the town. So I headed there. I did not know what to expect, but did I had a choice? I just hoped that I'd find out what made this town this way. As I was there, I looked through the shelves and found nothing interesting...until something caught my eye. A book...labelled "The Prince and the Raven". Curious, I opened the book. It was written by a storywriter named Drosselmeyer. It was a story about a prince fighting a demonic being called "The Raven". So it was a normal fairy tale...and it was nothing else interesting in there. Until I stopped at one page. At that page, it was described that a magical princess would confess her love to the prince and vanish into a speck of light. Her name was...PRINCESS TUTU?! Although, the description of the princess fits the same girl I've met before. No, that can’t be. It’s probably a coincidence, right?  
Because, fairy tales are not real, as far as I know. I continued reading, but it was just some story, it seemed. For now, I just headed back to the dorms.

Later, the school seemed over as I saw a lot of girls already going home. And not much later, the door to my dorm room opened. Ahiru, as I predicted.  
"Hey Ahiru." I said. "Hello Lucy! How are you doing today?" She asked, smiling.  
"I'm good." I answered, smiling a bit, too. "Say, I have a question." I said, while I just sat down on my bed.  
"What is it?" she wondered, curiously.  
"What happened in this town before I came? Anything special...?" I requested.  
"Hmm. Not much..." she replied.  
"I found a book earlier in the library called "The Prince and the Raven". I took a look into the book and it seemed like a fairy tale. There was a mention of a Princess Tutu. Any idea  
who exactly in the book that is? I only saw like, that she had the fate to become light when confessing her love..." I wondered. Ahiru grabbed her pendant for some reason, but didn't really seem to notice that. "I doubt that I can help you in that regard. She only had some lines in the book, until she became a speck of light”, she replied.  
It kind of sounded like a lie. But, for now, I let it be. "Huh...very mysterious."  
I replied. "You know, I want to find out more about her. Who was she? Was she real, or not?" I pointed out. She just shrugged.  
"Uh, that's unfortunate." I spoke.  
"Anyways, I have to go for now." Ahiru suddenly replied, smiling. "I've promised two friends of mine to meet them after school," she added. "That's fine. See you later, Ahiru!" I answered, waving. She waved back and left.

Soon, I decided to go outside again and walked a bit through the town. Figuring out what to do next...and how exactly to escape this mess. I still wanted to go home.  
Until I heard a sound. A familiar sound. "Caw!"...A raven flying around. Another "caw". Two ravens. Until the caw's multiplied by a lot. It were now around 6 ravens flying around. Are they gathering? I tried to ignore that and just continued walking on, but the caws didn't really disappear, in fact, those ravens began flying after me.  
And when I stopped and just stood there, they just sat down on a roof and watched me. What...? I continued walking and they, once again, began flying after me.  
From the distance, I saw more and more ravens following. "Okay, this is definitively not natural." The conspiracy increased and it kind of scared me.  
I just continued walking normally and tried to ignore it. The ravens were still after me, as I could make out by looking at their shadows at the ground. until I had the feeling that something followed me. And it wasn’t the ravens. This quite confirmed my doubts and I began running. Gold Crown Town, fortunately, had a forest with a destroyed building. so I tried to escape to there. I waited for a while under the trees, while the ravens kept cawing. Suddenly, all of them stopped at once. I looked up in the sky. They were gone. I wonder why they went after me and began swarming that heavily. Although, the victory was cut-short. As I escaped to the building, the forest began to darken. Was it already turning night? No way...I've talked with Ahiru just some hours ago and it was completely bright.Suddenly, I saw a person slowly walking out from the path I've just came from. From afar, it looked like...Princess Tutu? But suddenly red eyes began to glow over her in the dark. And the atmosphere was suddenly far more unsettling. But when they moved on, I saw pretty quickly that it wasn't Princess Tutu. "Hey, who's there?!" I demanded, loud and clearly. Suddenly, a voice began speaking. It was the same cold and emotionless voice from yesterday. "No need to be scared..." it answered.  
The person finally stepped out of the shadows.

It was a girl, however, her hairs were a pitch black, fashioned to look like a feather on top of her head. She had red eyes and wore a black tutu, which reminded me of an raven's feathers. And there was a slight smirk. "W-who are you?" I demanded again, but calmer this time, still a bit scared. "Now, that is not important to know, is it?" The girl replied. "Why did you follow me?" I asked, now completely calmed down. "Because I see potential in you." she said, while slowly walking forward, slowly approaching me. "Potential?" I wondered. "Yes...you have the potential to change something in this world. You see, not everyone could leave a impact like that. Yet, I feel like, you easily could." she answered. A feeling overcame me. It felt...hypnotising. Those words...why did I trust them that much?  
"I could...?" I asked. She just nodded.  
"But, how can I change this world?" I questioned. I began walking forward to approach her. Or at least, my body did.  
It felt like I was losing control over what I do. "It's simple. All you have to do...is just...to give me your heart." she responded. My body suddenly stopped and collapsed to the ground. Now I was there, lying. And I seem to have felt...nothing. However, I realized that I was held up by something...it was similar to an altar, yet it looked like...a lot of crows. A similar structure raised the girl into midair. Suddenly, out of nowhere, giant raven wings formed on her arms. She continued her talk, "As soon I got your heart, I can make that wish of yours come true. You only have to accept it...", looking at me and still holding and spreading wings. It was at this moment that I remembered something...something of the past. 

There, I was still a baby and could hear lot of raven noises outside. Then, someone picked me up. It was my mother.. I heard my mother talking to somebody. All I can remember is that some young boy, saying that we can escape and that he would handle the "demon".  
Then, the memory faded out and I was back in reality. With all my might, I tried to resist against the hypnotism now and the girl seemed to realize that, as she tried stronger.  
Eventually, I broke out of the hypnotised state with a cry, "No!" I struck the altar with a clenching fist, which broke into a swarm of ravens. I was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. "Impossible! That is not how it was supposed to be!" she demanded, shocked  
"Heh, seems like I escaped your little deathtrap." I said, standing up. I saw her eyes filled with anger.  
"Fine! If that won't work, I'll take your heart myself!" sending the ravens to attack me. One or two scratches happened on my body. Before a third one was made, a second voice suddenly ringed.  
"Stop!"  
I knew that voice. It was the same melodic voice from yesterday. I turned around to see a familiar girl. It was Princess Tutu. Suddenly, the ravens swarmed the black haired girl like crazy and feathers rained down until, I could not see her anymore. Then, the ravens took flight and the raven girl disappeared. Just...gone.  
I sighed. "If you had come just a second too late, I would have been dead." I said, appreciating her saving me.  
"Is everything alright?" Tutu asked. I nodded.  
She then made a simple move with her hand; I do not know if was something related to ballet, but I would assume so, given her look. Then, reached out her hand to me. "Come - and dance with me," she said, while smiling. "I think I will pass." I responded, to her surprise. She however, seemed to insist. Yet, I declined it, once again. Finally, she nodded and withdrew her hand. "Thanks for saving me, Princess Tutu." I replied, smiling. She smiled back and curtsied, then turning around and running away. I took another sigh and looked into the sky. The sky was bright blue again and everything was back to normal. 

I slowly went back into the main part of town. Those two scratches I now had were not so bad, but did hurt a bit. On my way back to the dorms, I met Ahiru.  
She gasped. "Lucy, what happened to your arm?" she wondered shocked and worried. "That is nothing. Just two scratches," I replied, smiling.  
"Are you sure?" She asked, but I just nodded.  
She nodded back and smiled.  
"Where did you want to go?" I mentioned.  
"To meet my friends again. But I'll be back at the dorms soon. Besides, I have to ask you for a favor," she replied.  
"What favor?" I wondered.  
“Now, it may seem like a very weird request, but...could you please join our academy?" she replied. "...Actually...not a bad idea. You know, it seems like I'm not going away anytime soon, so I could also join the academy for the time being!" I told her.  
She smiled. "That's great! Then I can introduce you to my friends! Say, will you join the ballet class, then?" she asked as she looked at me.  
I sighed. "Alright, yes, I will. Because you asked me so kindly."  
I saw the spark in her eyes and she being very happy. "Thank you, Lucy!!! Anyways, I am off to my friends now. See you later!" She said, waving and running off again.  
"See you later...

...Princess Tutu." I replied quietly, with a smile.


	4. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recent events, Lucy decided to join the academy and not just met Ahiru's friends, but also a weird other girl, which seems familiar...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long overdue, ain't it? This thing was basically on forced hiatus, as my laptop died. But now I got my laptop back, completely repaired, I can continue. A story which never ends is a cruel thing, after all. 
> 
> Last time, Lucy was saved by Princess Tutu and decided to join the academy. However, how will it continue?
> 
> Find out. The story resumes.
> 
> PS: It's way easier to read, as I got some help by a friend. :)

It's been two days now since I joined the academy and things have been very smooth so far. Ahiru introduced me to her friends, Pique and Lillie, who had a lot of questions like if I had a crush and the like. My first two days learning in the class didn't turn out bad, either. They went better than I anticipated. While Ahiru, was, well, struggling a lot. For being a magical ballerina, she's not too good at dancing in her actual form. 

Once again, we were standing in the class, practicing the basics of ballet, I am very good at focusing and trying new things, like learning ballet. The only thing is... I kind of underestimated how difficult it would be. There's a bunch of things you have to keep in mind to perfect your steps. But I guess I can live with it. Eventually, we were allowed to take a short break and I went to talk to Ahiru, Pique, and Lillie for a bit. 

"Say, Ahiru..." I said, tilting my head, "how come you are still more of a beginner? I'm asking, because it seems you've been in the class for a long time now." 

"Well..." Ahiru responded.

"That's because she's always distracted by something!" Pique quickly responded, smirking. 

"You're helping a lot, Pique..." Ahiru answered, sighing. 

I just giggled. "You three fit well together as a trio, don't you think so?" I asked them. Pique and Lillie nodded in reponse and Ahiru just smiled.

"So, Lucy, how long have you lived here?" Lillie suddenly asked me. 

"I recently got here, to be honest. Four days ago." I replied. She nodded in understanding.

After chatting a bit longer, we went back to practicing. Some time later in class, the advanced class entered the room. They were amazingly talented, way moreso than anyone in our class. One girl in particular seemed different from the rest. Unlike the rest, who wore blue outfits, she wore a red outfit. She had long, black hair and her eyes seemed a menacing red to me. How is it possible for someone to have red eyes? Probably the weirdest thing was that she seemed familiar to me. She also noticed me, but she just looked forward and didn't pay me any more attention.

Once class was over for the day and I was about to leave the academy, the black-haired girl walked past me. Something felt very off about her, but I couldn't really point my finger on it. After thinking a short moment, I suddenly had a thought. The raven girl from yesterday... maybe she was that girl? However... I doubted it. This girl is calm and collected, while the raven girl was far from any of those. I think I'm growing paranoid from everything that's happened recently. I finished daydreaming and headed out, eventually meeting Ahiru on the way back to the dorms. 

"Hey Ahiru!" I said, waving. 

"Oh, hello Lucy!" she answered. "See? I told you the academy is not too bad!" she added.

I nodded in agreement. "Say, Ahiru...? On the way out, I came across some girl who was in the advanced class. Any idea who it was? The black-haired one?"

"Oh, you must mean Rue... not much is known about her. She barely talks with anyone in the class, which is strange, because when I first started she used to talk way more than she does now." Ahiru responded. 

"I see. Her dancing was special, something I haven't ever seen before. I feel like it would be nearly impossible to become as good as her." I sighed as we continued walking to the dorms. Ahiru soon after went to meet Pique and Lillie, while I decided to pay the library another visit. I didn't know why, but I felt like I could find out way more there.

While looking, I stumbled across "The Prince and the Raven" again. Opening it, I decided to skip to the page of Princess Tutu's fate. I began thinking. Let's say, the Princess Tutu of this town is actually the one from the fairy tale... how did she escape the story in the first place? How is Ahiru able to become her? Then, another question roamed my mind: was there a mention of a raven princess in the story? I skipped through the pages and looked, but there simply was no mention of her. Just the Raven, the prince, his knight, and Princess Tutu. But, what I found out was much more mysterious. This story was cut short and the fate of the Prince and the Raven, unknown. These pages seemed strangely torn out. What was the intention? As I glanced over some of the pages again, another repressed memory crossed my mind.

I was around thirteen. It was calm and peaceful; however, when I was on the way to bed, I overheard my mother worrying. One of the things I definitely could hear was that she was sick of hiding the truth from me. I was curious what this "truth" may be. Then, I remembered that voice from my dream telling me to "wake up, remember the truth." Could these things be connected? I would assume so. I pushed these thoughts away for the time being and decided to put the book back, and left the library to head back to the dorms. It was already evening, and I imagined Ahiru was saving somebody again as Princess Tutu. Without a second thought, I headed into my room.

That night, I carefully began thinking about everything that had happened. There was a sudden pain when I picked up that raven feather one of them dropped when it blindly flew into my room, which led me to fall into a brief sleep. I woke up here and found out about Princess Tutu, a raven girl, and some fairy tale, which pages had been torn out. It makes me wonder, was all of that bound to happen? Finally, I fell asleep and had the usual dream again, but this time something was slightly different. This time, the raven girl was in the dream, smirking at me, watching as the purple flames ignited around me. Soon, when I woke up, it was morning.

Class began as usual, yet, I still had a lot of questions about the earlier dream. I hoped I would get them answered soon enough. Once break started, I walked over to Ahiru, Pique, and Lillie. We had a small chat either about Ahiru's difficulty focusing, or about my failure in doing a pirouette earlier. As I said before, this is way more difficult than I thought it would be. Also, Lillie has a "special" kind of humour, I gotta say. I'm happy that Ahiru has such nice friends.

Once the day was done, I was on my way outside and once again, Rue walked past me. I actually thought it would be silent again, but as I walked on, she suddenly stood still. 

"Lucy...that is your name, am I right?" She didn't look at me as she spoke.

"Yes, it is..." I replied, kind of confused by these sudden words. 

She looked at me. "Why did you want to know who I am?" 

"Eh? I didn't really have a special reason, you just seemed...mysteriously quiet." I quickly answered. This situation was kind of awkward. "Say... have we met before?" 

"Who knows?" She simply replied, half smirking. Then Rue just turned around and continued walking.

"Okay...I guess...see you tomorrow...?" I tilted my head. This was very weird, and also eerie.

I moved on, too, and left the academy, walking to the dorms alone. After putting my school stuff into my room, I was about leave the dorms, when I happened to meet Ahiru. This was the perfect opportunity to ask her one of the questions burning on my mind.

"Say, Ahiru...I wanted to talk with you." I told her, quietly. 

"Of course, what is it?" She focused her attention on me.

"Well...before my arrival, did something supernatural ever happen here in this town? You know, I heard a lot of rumors about this town. Strangely, I never heard of this place before I turned fourteen, so I'm just curious..." I asked.

"...I do not know, unfortunately..." She said, grabbing her pendant out of discomfort. 

"Aww, I thought you would know something...after all, you have been here much longer than me. Considering you are Princess Tutu." I claimed.

She was instantly shocked. "H-how'd you?" I could see it in her eyes, she did not expect that.

"Well, my first thought of you being her came in mind when I glanced over that book...'The Prince and the Raven.' My second clue was, that I saw you twice in your transformed form, including the second time you tried to save me. And the pendant Princess Tutu wore, reminded me of yours. When we had talked about supernatural stuff, you grabbing it sealed the deal."

She was less shocked than before. "I see... however, others merely see me as a white, glowing swan, so how did you see me as a human girl?" She wanted to know.

"Unfortunately, that is something I cannot explain, either. But before you worry too much, you can be sure your secret's safe with me. I know you don't know me too well, but you seem to trust me. So please, trust me with this, too!" I smiled.

"...Alright, I think I can entrust you with this secret." She said, also smiling. "But now..." She suddenly stood up. "I have to go somewhere."

"I can imagine what, so no need to tell me." I assured her. She looked back to me one last time and then left.

One big secret found out, a thousand more to go. But now I wonder, how did Ahiru obtain the power to become Princess Tutu in the first place? And, most importantly, who exactly is this raven girl? I hoped I'd find out eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too much progress as you can see and not too much action, but hey, doesn't have to be.  
> Also, I hope this chapter feels more like Princess Tutu. 
> 
> Anyways, see you next time when we begin to realize how these sudden singularities come to happen...


End file.
